Take My Heart Along
by itsavolcano
Summary: "He had forgotten what it was like to hold someone so close-to be the protector. She was a soothing balm to his healing heart." A series of drabbles set in the same universe as "The Apathy That Has Made Us." Formerly titled "Out of the Woods."
1. Take My Heart Along: Chapter 1

This is set in the same universe as "The Apathy That Has Made Us," but further down. In fact, I'm currently working on a longer piece that comes after that first story, but before this little drabble.

This image wouldn't leave my brain for the last two days, so I decided to embrace it. I highly suspect this will become a series of drabbles. I suspect I will want to play in this 'verse often.

_**Out of the Woods**_

**Enchanted**

_It's all enchanted and wild_  
_It's just like my heart said_  
_It was going to be_  
_("Out of the Woods" Nickel Creek)_

Tucked against his shoulder, she was warm and wonderful. With his palm curled against her back, he could feel each soft little breath. He was lost in the tranquility as she slept against him and his own breathing begin to match hers. For so long he had been lost in his own pain, lost in his own vengeance, and then he had simply been _lost_. He had forgotten what it was like to hold someone so close-to be the protector. She was a soothing balm to his healing heart.

She sighed out a tiny yawn, all pink tongue and curled lip. The small yawn shuddered through her body and her fisted hands unfurled before closing back up.

"I feel the same way, my love," he crooned against his daughter's soft downy head. At the sound of his voice, she settled back against him.

Looking up from his perch on the leather sofa in the FBI bullpen, he studied his wife as she pecked out an email. It was Lisbon's first day back on the job since giving birth, and while Jane would have preferred to keep his new family tucked away in their one-floor ranch house, he knew she would never agree to that.

Instead, they had dropped their daughter off at the daycare center on the second floor before traveling up to their office, doing their best to pretend it was any other day. But it wasn't. Lisbon remained on desk duty, and Jane refused to leave the building without her. When Fischer requested his assistance with questioning a witness for a case, Jane ran circles around her until the witness was brought to _him_. It had been just as well, since the man knew nothing and had simply based his account of the crime from local news reports.

Several times throughout the day, under the guise of going to the kitchenette to make fresh tea or grabbing a piece of fruit for Lisbon, Jane would find himself on the elevator heading to the second floor. He would slowly edge by the daycare center, looking around at the other parents, the teachers and caregivers. His newborn daughter slept mostly, and he would peek at her in the bassinet, relieved and filled with love.

During their lunch break, he and Lisbon had slipped down to hold the baby, and rock her to sleep. As the hour ended he had gently tugged Lisbon away from the bassinet, running his thumb over her knuckles as she clutched his hand. In the elevator, she wiped her eyes and squared her shoulders, readying herself to face the bullpen. For the hundredth time in their partnership, he marveled at her strength. Before she could step from the elevator, he dropped a kiss in her hair. She gave him a warm smile and ran her fingers down his lapel. After one final wink, they broke apart with Lisbon heading to her desk and Jane heading to his sofa.

That afternoon, on the fifth trip to get Lisbon a piece of fruit, Jane spotted Cho as he turned down the hall outside the daycare center. Cho had no reason to be on the second floor, since it was mainly human resources departments. But Jane wasn't about to call him out on it; the more protectors his daughter had, the better he felt.

Sipping his tea, Jane had watched as the minutes ticked by, inching closer and closer to 5 o'clock. At 4:56PM he stood up and stretched. After dropping his tea cup and saucer in the sink, he circled back around to Lisbon's desk.

"I need twenty more minutes." She didn't look up.

"Teresa," he softly admonished. "It's your first day back from maternity leave-I think you can put a pin in whatever cold case you've been hunched over all day. It will be no colder in the morning." He didn't bother hiding his frustration. He had waited all day to take his family home, and it was finally a reasonable hour.

"Twenty more minutes." She looked up this time, her green eyes softly pleading. "You go get Emma and bring her back here, show her what Daddy does all day." Lisbon tossed a glance over her shoulder at his sofa, one eyebrow arched.

And with that, Jane found himself sitting on his sofa, his daughter sleeping against his shoulder while his wife leaned over her keyboard finishing one last email. The twenty minutes had turned into thirty-five, and Jane was giving her five additional minutes before he bundled his family into the SUV. At the moment, he was far too content listening to the soft sounds his daughter made, feeling her pleasantly warm weight under his hand.

Moments later cool fingers brushed a tuft of hair back from his forehead.

"Hey, my sleepyheads." Lisbon's silky voice broke through the pleasant haze and Jane realized he had nodded off for a few minutes. Opening his eyes, he saw his wife smiling down at him, her fingers caressing their daughter's head. "Time to go home."


	2. Take My Heart Along: Chapter 2

All typos are mine, this was just a thing I wanted to write and could use more polish, but eh. Also, there's an Easter egg hidden in the daughter's name, if you have a baby name book handy, or Google.

**Take My Heart Along**

_Angel, you were born to fly_  
_If you get too high, I'll catch you when fall_  
("When You Come Back Down"; Nickel Creek)

There were moments when Patrick Jane's heart just _stopped._ Those moments were usually triggered by Emma running too far ahead, turning a corner too quickly, and slipping just out of his sight. They lasted until he caught up, until those chestnut curls bouncing with each giddy half-gallop across the bullpen to her mother came back into view.

He watched as Lisbon turned to the sound of their daughter's voice, watched as she smiled wide and warm, catching Emma just as she launched herself into her arms. It made his heart stop for a completely different reason. The happiness he felt at the sight warred with the steady strum of worry and guilt that was always present at the back of his mind. Some days it was louder than others, but most days, in the years since Emma's birth, he had learned to quiet the dark voice that told him he didn't deserve this second chance

It helped when Lisbon looked at him, so full of warmth and love that he felt whole. She knew him well enough to catch those fleeting somber looks and she would brush her hand over his, and he would feel stronger. Lisbon always had that effect on him.

Being a father again came with many struggles he hadn't foreseen. Most notably, the more Emma grew and tried to test her boundaries, the tighter Jane wanted to hold on to her. Letting her out of his sight was a daily struggle-more so than he'd expected, or experienced before. He worried he was missing out on living in the _here and now_ all over again.

Earlier that afternoon, as Emma raced around the playground with her friends from playgroup, Jane found himself keeping an even sharper eye out for possible dangers and lurking strangers. His daughter was right in front of him, shouting for him to push her higher on the safety swing, and his eyes were locked on the balding man leaning against the bed of his black Chevy truck, hands in his jeans pockets, posture seemingly casual. Only when the man's children spilled out of the school and into the truck did Jane finally relax. By that time Emma was over swinging and had moved on to digging the toes of her sneakers into the soft mulch under the swing, not satisfied until she reached the sandy dirt below.

A few moments later, they were loaded up in the car, heading to the office to pick up Lisbon. Emma was tucked in her car seat, softly fading from a day of friends and playing, talking about nothing in particular, and not even necessarily to her father. Her murmurs became a song, and Jane's eyes flicked to the rear-view mirror, catching her as she looked out the back window. The gentleness of the moment, of this beautiful little girl who was part Lisbon, part Jane, and unaware of life's cruelties as she sweetly sang a song from a Disney movie, brought hot tears to his eyes.

Once they were inside the building and their floor, Emma recognized the route. She slipped her hand from her father's and bounded ahead in search of her mother. It was only a few steps ahead and the entire building was well-guarded, but Jane's heart still stuttered. Even now, with Emma in Lisbon's arms, Jane still felt a little out of sorts.

He watched as she situated Emma on her hip and powered down her computer. The little girl was once again drooping, worn out from a day of play and the excitement of seeing her mother but Lisbon managed to keep her balance. When she dropped a couple folders into her opened bag, Jane made a note to do his best to keep her from cracking into those case files tonight. She'd been working too hard lately, working throughout the week after Emma had gone to bed. She definitely needed a night off and he would see she took it.

Turning towards him, Lisbon gave Jane a long look, a small wrinkle of concern forming between her eyes as she took in his slightly unnerved state. He tried to quickly mask his feelings of unease from the day, tried to pull himself into the present moment and tamp down the fears that played along the fringe of his mind. Coping with the fear and anxiety was getting easier with each day, but the understanding that they could be taken from him had a way of leaving him momentarily crippled.

Now, standing next to him, Lisbon reached up and tenderly brushed his hair back from his forehead before drawing herself up to her toes for a quick kiss.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hello." He smiled, feeling steadier with each brush of her hand.

"Good day?" She asked, her tone soft and careful as if she already knew the answer. He took a breath and shrugged.

"A better day," he offered, and she seemed satisfied by that.

"Hey, sweets?" Lisbon gently nudged Emma who only mumbled and clung tighter, her eyes closed tight. Lisbon looked over at him and without a word, he took his hands from his pockets and slipped them under their daughter. Without waking, Emma snuggled deeper against her father, her head under his chin. Then, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow, Lisbon guided him to the elevator.

"Home?" Lisbon asked as she pressed the button to the garage.

"Home," Jane agreed, giving her a little wink.

Emma let out a deep, steady sigh and his heart contracted. Despite the concerns, he would never tire of this and he would treasure it always, his lovely little family.


End file.
